Albus Potter and the Approaching Darkness
by FrenziedFalc0n
Summary: Albus Severus Potter is about to learn that being a Potter at Hogwarts means tests and homework are the least of his worries. The story of Albus' first year at Hogwarts. Runs alongside Harry Potter and the Approaching Darkness. Reading this without reading Harry Potter and the Approaching Darkness is not something I would recommend.
1. Hogwarts Express

A/N: Originally the chapters for this story were going to run alongside multiple ones in the Harry Potter and the Approaching Darkness story. But, upon realizing that I had much more that I wanted to put in this story, I decided to make the chapters shorter so I could keep enough saved up to upload regularly. This one will only include the Hogwarts Express, tomorrow will focus on the sorting and maybe the first day of classes. I intend to update this story on Friday-Sunday, and the Harry P.O.V. Monday-Thursday. Anyway, without further ado, let's begin.

 **Disclaimer: I do NOT own Harry Potter, unfortunately.**

Albus stepped onto the Hogwarts Express still feeling more worried than excited. Even after all the things his father said about not caring which house he was in, Albus could tell that he would be disappointed if he ended up anywhere except Gryffindor. He was completely lost in thought when his cousin, Rose, pushed him up the final step. "If you don't move, the door is going to shut on you." She said. She was proven right moments later, when the door slammed closed just as they stepped onto the train fully. He turned to watch the platform disappear and his sister Lily chasing the train as it sped away. Rose tugged on his arm and said, "C'mon, let's go find an empty compartment."

They walked along the train, stopping occasionally to talk to their cousins along the way. Finally, they found an empty compartment near the very back of the train. They took their seats and Rose pulled out a large, hard cover book. Albus recognized it as the same book that his aunt Hermoine had given him on his eleventh birthday. _Hogwarts, a History._ "You're actually reading that? My dad said that your mum was the only person he had ever known to read it." He asked, looking at the title of the chapter she was starting. _The Battle of Hogwarts,_ he hadn't even opened his copy of the book, but he already knew all about the battle his parents had fought in.

"If you must know, I'm only reading the chapters that talk about our family. I can't help thinking that they're not telling us everything." She said, sounding almost exactly like Albus imagined his aunt to sound at her age.

"Like what?" Albus asked, curious. His parents had talked about little else besides their time at Hogwarts, since he had gotten his letter. From their words, Albus had decided that even without a dark lord plotting his death, his time at Hogwarts would be more exciting than anything he'd experienced so far. Just as he was pondering this, the compartment door opened.

"Hiya Al!" James, Albus' brother said, plopping into the seat directly across from him. "Has the snack trolley come by here yet?" He asked, looking outside the compartment door longingly. "I missed it when it came by our compartment, and I couldn't seem to catch it."

"Maybe it was all a dream," came the voice of Fred, George's son. He was in James' year and they had seemingly caused all sorts of mayhem the year before. So much so that the former headmistress, Minerva McGonnagal, had come to the Burrow once a month to report on their exploits, instead of writing. _The owls would simply die from being overworked_ she had said when he asked her why. He could tell, though, that even when she was complaining about the pair's troublemaking, she carried a soft spot for them.

"So, are you ready for the sorting, Al?" James asked, looking him over.

"Sure, dad said the hat will let you choose sometimes, so I should be fine." Albus said, not wanting to open his brother up for any more Slytherin jokes, he'd heard enough of those since he got the letter. James simply nodded, and pulled a box of Every Flavored Beans from his pocket.

James looked around for the trolley again, and seeing that it was nowhere in sight, he sighed. "Well, at least uncle George gave me these," he said. Albus was just about to say that he wouldn't blindly trust anything his uncle gave them, when James threw a red and black bean into the air, catching it in his mouth. "Pepper," he said, but as he opened his mouth to say something else, suddenly James was gone, a Red bird with a Black 'W' on its chest sat where he had a moment before. Everyone in the compartment laughed as James flew around their heads, chirping the entire time. After a few minutes, James reappeared, directly above Fred's head. He crashed down on top of his cousin and best friend.

"Get. OFF." Fred said, trying to push free. Albus and Rose were practically dying of laughter. Fred finally pulled himself free and everyone had settled down, when they heard someone just outside the compartment, trying to laugh silently. James and Fred obviously thought that it would be the trolley, but were disappointed by the appearance of a small, blonde boy, the same one his father and uncle Ron had been talking about on the platform.

"Hello," he said, face red from trying to hold in his laughter. "I'm-"

Rose cut in, "Scorpius Malfoy." The boy looked surprised at the fact that she already knew his name, but recovered quickly.

"Obviously, my reputation precedes me." He said, bowing slightly. "And you are?" He put his hand out, a gesture Albus hadn't expected from a Malfoy.

"Rose Weasley," Rose said, obviously taken aback also. She timidly reached out and shook his hand.

"Delighted, I'm sure." Scorpius continued, he was nothing like what anyone in the compartment had expected based on the stories. After a few moments, he had been introduced to everyone in the compartment and they were all taking turns with the box of beans. It seemed that they were all meant to turn the user into a bird of some kind. Albus was flying around the compartment as a Pheonix when Scorpius asked, "So, what house do you expect to be in, Rose?"

Rose didn't even wait a moment before answering, "Gryffindor, I _am_ a Weasley after all. I suppose you expect Slytherin." Albus landed on his seat, watching the exchange.

Scorpius shook his head. "I expect I'll break the trend." He said, smirking. "I think I'll go Hufflepuff. My grandfather might literally lose his mind, but I just can't see myself living in a dungeon for seven years, you know?" He finished and Albus realized he was returned to himself. Scorpius turned to look at Albus, "What about you, then? Think you'll carry on in Gryffindor also?"

Albus thought for a moment. "I thought I would, but I've just realized that there are two houses that I hadn't even considered." They sat in silence for a few moments before Rose looked out the window and gasped.

"I see it, we need to change!" she exclaimed, practically running from the compartment with her robes in hand.


	2. The Sorting

**A/N:** I know, I was supposed to put this up yesterday, but my internet wanted to die. Anyway, this chapter runs alongside the second part of Chapter 1 of Harry Potter and the Approaching Darkness, I'm trying to catch up to the other story so the two can be read simultaneously.

 **Disclaimer:** I do **NOT** own Harry Potter.

Albus, Rose, and Scorpius stepped off the train. Many of the first-year students around them were gasping at the sight of the castle, but Albus noted that Scorpius, just like himself and Rose, had obviously seen it before. He and Rose had come to the school at least once a year with their parents to watch the Gryffindor quidditch team play, usually against Slytherin. They passed the large stone that served as a memorial to the people that fell during the last war. Albus' eyes instantly fell on the name of Fred Weasley, his uncle's twin brother. It was strange to think that there were once two of them, George managed enough mischief all by himself, if you asked Albus. It was a wonder the two of them had left Hogwarts in one piece, more or less.

The first years separated from the older students, following the voice of Neville Longbottom. "First year, over here!" He said, using the same charm his father used when trying to get his childrens' attention. _Sonorus_. Neville stopped calling for the first years for a moment when he noticed Albus and Rose. He pulled his wand from his throat and said, "Hello, Albus, Rose."

"Hiya!" They said in unison, noticing that Nevilles eyes narrowed a bit when they fell on Scorpius. He recovered quickly though, holding out his hand.

"And you must be the young Mr. Malfoy. I'm Professor Longbottom, your Herbology professor and head of Gryffindor House," He said with as much pride as Albus had ever heard in his voice. Being the head of Gryffindor was likely his most proud achievement, which Albus still thought was strange, considering he had slain Voldemort's pet snake, according to his parents. Scorpius shook his hand solemnly, Albus couldn't imagine what version of the stories Scorpius' father had told him.

"So, where's Hagrid?" Albus asked, having just realized that Neville wasn't the one his father had told him to expect for the boat ride.

"Oh, that bloody dragon of his laid eggs and Hagrid wanted to check on them. Took a nasty bite from the mother." Neville said, Albus noted that he didn't look nervous, more amused than anything. "He'll be fine, though. I expect he'll be out of the hospital wing for classes tomorrow. Giant's blood and all." Neville led them to the flock of boats on the lake, and they all loaded into them. Scorpius, Rose, and Albus rushed into the first boat with Neville. After they reached the side of the lake nearest to the castle, Neville led them up an almost endless flight of stairs. They stopped outside a massive set of double doors. "Wait here, I will come to collect you when it is time for the sorting." Neville said with a smirk, and he disappeared into the Great Hall, closing the doors behind him.

The students around him broke into excited whispers. Most of them already knew how the sorting worked, but Albus noticed that a small group of children were standing together near the back of the group, looking nervous. He guessed that they were muggle borns who really didn't know what was waiting for them beyond the door. He walked over to them, vaguely aware of Rose and Scorpius following him. "Hi," he said, "I'm Albus," he said, before realizing he hadn't introduced his friends. He pointed Rose and Scorpius out and they all said hello. "You know, it's really not that scary. You just put on a silly hat, and it tells you what house you're in." He said, this seemed to calm them down. He could've swore he heard one of them whisper, 'So there isn't a troll?' and he figured that his uncle was still spreading that rumor to incoming first years. Scorpius spoke next.

"Truly, my biggest worry is getting some kind of magical lice." He said, laughing. "And M is so far back that I'll have to wait while all of you wear it, so many germs. I can't imagine having to wait for W, I'll have to check your hair and make sure there's nothing crawling around in there after, Rose." He was still laughing, loudly, but Rose was blushing slightly and looked bashful. She was saved from any further conversation, however, by Neville reemerging from the Great Hall.

"Follow me," he said, pushing the doors open fully. Even the students who knew what to expect were impressed by the sight they saw before them. Albus noted that the Great Hall looked much bigger than it did when his father showed him his memories of some of the sortings from his time in school. He expected this must be the result of the larger magical population. There hadn't been a war in some time, so naturally there were more people.

He was so busy taking in the sights, sounds, and smells of the great hall, that he must have missed the sorting hat's song. He looked up upon hearing his name, and realized that he had missed Scorpius. He scanned the Slytherin table, but didn't see him there. He reached the stool at the front of the hall and sat, slamming the hat down onto his head. _Ouch,_ he heard, _don't be so rough. Another Potter, I see. I expect you'll want to be in Gryffindor with your brother. But, I will give you the same speech I gave your father, you would do well in Slytherin. I sense you would do well regardless of the house, truly._ Albus told the hat with a thought that he didn't care which house he was in. So he was surprised when he heard it shout, "GRYFFINDOR!" A massive applause erupted from the Gryffindor table and he noticed that James and Fred were standing in their chairs, dancing. This went on for longer than he would've liked, even after he took his seat. After the applause finally abated, the sorting continued. Rose ended up in Gryffindor, and received the same welcome as Albus, which he found much more entertaining the second time.

After all the first years were sorted, the new Headmistress, a short, thin woman with mostly black hair, a few strands were already gray. Albus wondered if any black hair would survive a year with his brother at the school. She stood, and raised her goblet, before saying, "Welcome back, students. For those of you that do not know, I am Professor Rebecca Undercliffe. In the interest of all of our appetites, I have given all of my announcements for today to your house prefects. They will give you any information you need, after the feast." She snapped her fingers, and more food than Albus had ever seen appeared along all four tables. This caused an even louder applause than Albus and Rose received, possibly because the two of them joined in on this one.


	3. Potions and Positions

**A/N:** I was gone for Spring Break and nearly forgot this chapter was ready to be uploaded. There should be more later this week. Also, I've updated Harry Potter and the Approaching Darkness with two new chapters in the past couple days, enjoy.

 **Disclaimer:** I don't own Harry, Albus, Ginny, or James Potter, the jury is still out on some of the other characters though.

Albus awoke the morning after the sorting ceremony to the sound of an owl tapping at the window, he recognized it instantly as one of his mother's many owls that were normally used for work only. He walked to the window and let it in, it landed on his shoulder and Albus pulled the letter from its leg. It was from his mother, but he had only just sent his owl the night before, she couldn't have written back so quickly, could she?

 _Albus,_

 _Your father and I were so glad to see you get sorted into Gryffindor! I know he talked like Slytherin was okay, but I couldn't stand the thought of you living in the dungeons. Anyway, I was recently informed that one of my least favorite people in the world is teaching potions at Hogwarts now, I'm sure you already know this after the talk about him on the platform this morning. If you have any trouble at all with Malfoy, you write your father or me immediately. Again, we're so proud of you!_

 _Love,_

 _Mum_

"Couldn't bring it to breakfast with all the other owls?" Albus heard one of his new roommates say, a dark-skinned boy named Noah Porter. Albus had met him the night before, but didn't expect him to already be awake, it startled him. "Must be some letter." He said, before walking past Albus to the doorway and down the stairs. Albus put the letter in his trunk and went down after him to find Rose.

He found her sitting in a small chair near the doorway to the girls' dormitories. "Good Morning," She said, smiling sleepily. Albus greeted her in kind and took a seat across from her, "did you just wake up? I couldn't sleep at all, too much to do before classes start." Rose said, returning to her book.

After what seemed to Albus like an eternity, Rose looked back up from her book and said, "I suppose you're waiting for me to go to breakfast. Well, let's go then." She got up and led the way through the portrait hole and to the great hall. They were in the middle of eating breakfast when Scorpius fell into the seat next to Rose.

"Reading at breakfast? Classes haven't even started yet, what's the point?" He asked, stealing a piece of bacon from Albus' plate. "You've got potions with us first thing, right?"

"We do, how's Hufflepuff?" Albus asked, curious.

"Well, I pretty much just went to sleep last night, so I don't really know yet." He said, "I'm not really big on the whole house rivalry thing though, so I'm going to try and sit at a different table each meal." Albus thought to himself _Slytherin should love that._ Albus had seen the way the Slytherin table glared at Scorpius the night before. They wouldn't take kindly to him trying to sit with them.

"Should we go ahead to the class to set everything up?" Rose said, "I don't want to miss anything trying to find ingredients."

"I suppose, father will enjoy seeing me making friends, even if they are Gryffindors." Scorpius said, getting up and leading them to the potions classroom. They entered the classroom to find it almost entirely deserted, apparently, they were earlier than they thought. Professor Malfoy was standing at the front, writing ingredients on a chalk board. "Good morning, Father." Scorpius said, loudly.

"Oh, Scorpius, how did you sleep?" his father asked distractedly, glancing back and forth between Scorpius Albus, and Rose. "I see you're already making friends, no introductions are necessary with these two, though. Hello, Mr. Potter and Miss Weasley. You three are entirely too early, though, so I suppose you can go ahead and procure your ingredients." He pointed to the cupboard beside the chalkboard.

They gathered the materials needed to make a simple cooling potion, bringing them back to a table with three stools in the middle of the classroom. After a few minutes, students began to trickle into the classroom. When everyone was seated, Scorpius' father spoke again.

"Hello, students. My name is Professor Malfoy, as well as being your potions professor, I have been tasked with being the head of Slytherin house." He said, addressing the class. "Today, we will be mixing a cooling potion. The ingredients are listed on the chalkboard, and the recipe can be found on page seventeen of your textbook. You may begin when you are ready, and when you are finished you will come to my desk and test it on yourself."

The class ended with most students successfully brewing the cooling potion, albeit with some accidental freezing. Malfoy had an antidote prepared for those situations, though, and the class went off without any real problems. After class, Scorpius, Albus, and Rose stayed back at the request of Professor Malfoy. He looked at the three of them for what seemed like minutes before he spoke.

"The three of you may be the most unlikely group of people to become friends that I have ever seen. You know, the Malfoys and Weasleys really are the Hatfields and McCoys of the wizarding world." The professor said, laughing. Scorpius noticed the confused look on Albus and Rose's faces and explained.

"Two American muggle families, they hated each other. My mother loved the television series about them and made father watch it with her." Scorpius explained.

"My mother told me about that when I was younger," Rose said, "not the television series, but the people. I wasn't confused by the statement, just by who it came from."

"I assume you've heard plenty of stories about me, Miss Weasley," their professor said, "I assure you, all of them are true. I did some really terrible things in my youth, and I've spent most of my adult life attempting to make up for them."

Taken aback at the sudden rush of personal information from his potions professor, Albus spoke next. "My father said you changed sides before the final battle."

"Ah, Potter speaks more kindly of me than he should. My mother and father pulled me out of the battle entirely. I could have no more switched sides than your parents could have. I did not wish to fight any more, for either side." Their professor said, sadly, "You three best be on your way, Longbottom will be expecting you for Herbology."


	4. Deep Water

**Disclaimer: I Don't Own Harry Potter.**

Albus woke up to the first weekend of his Hogwarts life much earlier than he had planned. And much more wet. His entire room was filling with water, and fish. _Why are there fish?_ He asked himself as the room continued to fill. Luckily, his time in the small creek right by his grandparents' house had prepared him for this moment. He jumped into the water, which was now up to his shoulders, and began swimming toward the door. He heard the voices of the other boys that he shared a dormitory with yelling and thrashing about behind him. He reached the door and opened it, to find that the water didn't flood the stairway, but instead stayed in place. He swam to where the water ended, and stepped out into the stairway. He also found himself completely dry afterward, which he thought was absurd, until he heard the laughter coming from above him in the stairway. James.

"Good morning, Al." His brother stepped into view, still laughing, followed by Fred. "Did you like the fish tank? Uncle George told us to use it in a classroom, but we had to test it first."

"How am I dry after I just swam out of my room?" Albus said, dumbfounded.

"It's not real water, just an illusion," Fred said, waving his arms like a muggle magician. "There's supposed to be a shark somewhere too, it's fake of course, but should give everyone else quite a scare."

"Did you have to do it on a Saturday?" Albus said, looking at the clock. It was only five in the morning. "And at five in the morning?"

"I'll admit, the timing was unfortunate. Fred said it would go at eight, but I guess he misread the directions. We were lucky to even be awake to see it work. It'll disappear in a few minutes and you can go to bed again." James said again. "or you can come with us and get an early breakfast from the house elves."

Albus didn't think he would be able to fall asleep after the morning he had already experienced, so he agreed to go with them. They walked through the hallways, careful to check the hallway in front of them for prefects or teachers. It was still too early for them to be out in the halls without permission. They reached the kitchen without incident and ate more than their fill because the house elves insisted on bringing them enough food to feed the entire Gryffindor house. Albus wondered how James and Fred weren't as big as their cousin Dudley had been in the memories Harry had shown them.

They were leaving the kitchen when they heard Professor Longbottom's voice calling out to them. "Getting an early start, I see," he said smiling. "A first year just came to me with the most amazing news. Apparently, their dormitory was turned into a salt water fish tank. He said he swam away from a shark and found himself outside, totally dry. By the time I got to the dorm to investigate, everything was dry and back to normal, except for one of the boys, poor boy is terrified of sharks." He looked at James and Fred knowingly. "Really, boys, if you're going to play pranks, at least go after the other houses. Might I suggest the Ravenclaws? They have a few pranksters in that house that I expect could give you lot a run for your galleons." James and Fred looked at each other, then back to their professor, who winked at them, before saying, "Now, on to more pressing matters, your cousins are all waiting for you in my office. There is some news I would like to share with all of you before it comes through the rumor mill and turns into something else entirely."

He led them to his office, a place Albus knew that his brother had seen many times in the year previous. The entire Weasley clan was already inside, whispering to each other. "Found them," Neville said as he entered the office. Drawing three more chairs in the air with his wand. After James, Albus, and Fred had taken their seats, Victoire spoke up.

"What is it professor?" she asked, this was clearly the only question any of them had, as they all sat silently waiting for Neville's response. It was rare for any of the Weasley children to be quiet for more than a moment.

"As you all know, there was an attack at a muggle restaurant the night of the sorting. Most of you are probably aware that the majority of your families were there at the time." Neville stopped, Albus noticed that, apparently, no one else was surprised by this news. "Now, most families would have probably hidden, or ran. But, being Weasleys and Potters, your parents fought the attackers, even though they weren't the targets. None of them were hurt in the attack, but since then the same attacker has approached all of them in their homes, looking for its true target. It is unlikely that any of this stays out of the papers, especially considering the fact that all of the houses are now under the Fidelius charm. Which brings us to the next order of business. Harry, I mean, Mr. Potter is now the secret keeper for the Burrow, and he asked me to give these to all of you." He handed each of the young Weasleys an envelope. Each of them was filled with small slips of paper, revealing the location of each of the Weasley houses. Albus noticed that he couldn't see anything on the other students' papers. After they had all seen the locations, Neville took the papers back, and tossed them into the fireplace. "Now, breakfast should be starting shortly, and I wouldn't want you lot to go hungry." He said, ushering them out. All except James and Albus, who he asked to stay behind.

"Sit down." He said, his voice sound much more like Professor Longbottom than Uncle Neville. "I'm sure it comes as no shock to hear that your father has gotten himself involved in someone else's fight. He can't help himself, it's one of his best, and most dangerous, qualities. I asked you two to stay back with me because I need to tell you, your mother was attacked in your home. She is fine, but while everyone else's houses were merely searched by this new darkness, yours was attacked. I felt I needed to warn you, especially, that there is something new out there, and it is dangerous. So I have to ask you not to use the secret passages to sneak into Hogsmeade, James, until this is settled." James looked stunned at the realization that his head of house knew about his and Fred's sneaking into the village.

"How long will it take, before it's settled." Albus asked.

"I'm not sure, but if I know your father, he won't be hiding under a fidelius for long, as a matter of fact, we may see him sooner than any of us expected." Neville said, eyes twinkling. "Now, go. I know you've had breakfast already, so my suggestion is that you, James, and Fred get to work, quidditch tryouts are soon and I wouldn't want you two missing out on an opportunity to do something with your time that doesn't leave half of the first years underwater."

 **A/N:** I actually wrote more than 3,000 words for this chapter, but seeing as the others were all ~1,000 I shortened it to what you see. I may include part of it in the next chapter, but it was really all useless stuff that I don't expect to impact the story at all.


	5. Cover Up

**A/N:** First, let me say I've really enjoyed writing these stories. The Harry Potter version of this story is a quarter of the way finished, and I've started writing book two. Next, I've been thinking about trying to find or make some cover art for this story and Harry Potter and the Approaching Darkness. If anyone wants to draw something like that I'd appreciate it.

Professor Longbottom, it turned out, was right about them seeing Albus' father sooner than expected. Albus was sitting in his favorite chair in the common room, when Rose kicked his knee lightly. When he looked up he saw the reason she had been trying to get his attention. His father was standing just inside the portrait hole, looking around at the common room. He had three children with him that Albus didn't recognize, but he was less interested in them than why his father was at the school. Albus made his way over to where many of his cousins and his brother were already congregating around his father. He found out that the children were new students from America. Ian and Ryan were twins in their sixth year, and the young girl's name was Susan. Albus thought that they somehow looked much older than they truly were.

The next revelation came when his father announced that he would be taking over the NEWT level Defense classes. Part of Albus was sad that his father wouldn't be teaching his class, but the other part was relieved. In his short time at the school, Albus' worst subject had proven to be Defense. He was very good at potions and charms though, so he couldn't figure out why defense was giving him such problems.

Harry left, after giving them his word that he wasn't planning to get involved in trying to stop James and Fred in their pranks, unless they endangered any of the students of course. This seemed to put James in a better mood, as it meant that his father wasn't there to keep him in check. Albus, however, was more confused than anything. He knew that his father received offers from Hogwarts, wanting him to teach, nearly every summer holiday. Why had he accepted this time? He asked his brother about this, but James only shrugged and said "Maybe he's tired of being at the house without us all the time. Lily can't be as much fun as we are."

Albus thought this was unlikely, his father loved being an Auror. He had been the youngest head of the Auror department ever, and had just accepted a position as the head of the entire DMLE. He decided not to worry about why his father was here, and just enjoy it. But the reason why still made him wonder.

Things continued much the same as they had before, apart from seeing his dad in the corridors occasionally, usually with Neville. Albus also noticed that his father was spending more time with Professor Malfoy than he would have expected. He found out the reason for that when his father stood in the great hall during breakfast one morning. "Good morning, I don't mean to interrupt your breakfast for longer than absolutely necessary, but I have one announcement to make. I have started a dueling club, exclusively for NEWT level students. The requirement to enter is being able to cast a patronus charm, you may do this for myself, or Professor Malfoy. I now return you to your regularly scheduled breakfast." He sat down, and where everyone had been silent before, they were now all whispering excitedly.

His father was starting a dueling club, at Hogwarts. Albus thought that this was his father's way of making Hogwarts more like his job at the ministry. He also wondered if a younger student could cast the charm, would his father let them into the club? Harry had taught James and Albus the idea behind casting a patronus over the past summer, Albus knew there was no way he would be able to actually cast it as a first year, but he knew that his father had cast one in his third year, so it was possible.

"Are you okay, Al?" Rose said, Albus was vaguely aware that she had been talking to him, but he was wrapped up in his own thoughts. He simply nodded at her, and she continued. "Well, since you haven't been listening, I'll start over. I think your father coming to the school at the same time as the new American students was not a coincidence, and now he's starting a dueling club. I think the ministry must have sent him, possibly to protect the school from something."

Albus thought about this for a moment, "It's possible, I guess." He said, Albus thought it was more likely that he had done it as a favor to someone, but he couldn't figure out who. "Why don't you just ask your mom?"

"I did, haven't you been listening? She told me not to worry about it, that your dad had his reasons for coming to the school and they were none of my business. I even wrote dad about it, but he gave me the same answer," Rose said, she clearly wasn't used to being left in the dark about anything, and would stop at nothing to figure out why Albus' father had come to the school out of the blue. "I'm going to go find a newspaper, maybe there's something in there about why the head of the DMLE is teaching at the school now."

Rose had been checking the papers every day, looking for something to give her a clue. Neville had told them that there had been an attack weeks ago, but as of yet, no new information had come out. Someone was keeping the whole thing quiet. Rose reappeared in front of Albus with a muggle newspaper, which Albus thought was odd. "Do you remember that kid that we went to primary school with? Stephen was his name."

"Yeah, what about him?" Albus and Stephen hadn't really gotten along in school, he was part of the reason Albus had been glad to leave for Hogwarts this year.

"He's gone missing." Rose said, reading the article. Albus saw the cover of the newspaper, with a picture of Stephen holding a baseball bat, the word 'MISSING' in bold just under it. He was looking at the picture when another headline caught his eye.

 _Power Outages Continue. Break-Ins at an All Time High._ Albus remembered what he had heard about all of the home invasions that had happened just before his father had taken the job at the school. He made a note to read that article when Rose was finished with it.

 **A/N:** I know, this chapter didn't really have any action at all, I just needed a way to catch up to chronologically with the other story, we're not quite there yet, but we're definitely closer.


	6. Duelists and Disasters

I've been pretty stoked to see the reception that the other story has gotten so far, it just passed 1,000 views, which is much better than I expected considering it was my first story. This one is a little behind that one, which I guess is normal because it's almost 20K words shorter. Anyway, I hope nothing in this story is inconsistent with what's in the other one. If you notice anything, please let me know.

Albus had learned a great deal from reading all of the muggle newspapers he could get his hands on. He had even taken a subscription to one of them, the _Godric's Hollow Gazette_. He found that in the weeks since the attack on the restaurant, which the muggles were calling a gas leak, quite a few strange things had occurred. Mostly, it was just reports of low hanging dark clouds, but occasionally someone would report something more strange, like a pet going missing when the cloud passed, or hearing footsteps in their house when it happened, or even the cloud itself taking on shapes. The article he read today was about a muggle driving into one of the clouds, and hitting a man in a black suit, when he got out to check on the man, though, he had gotten up and was following the cloud, oblivious to the fact he had just been hit by a car and had a bone sticking out of his arm. The muggle driver had been so distraught over the ordeal that he had been placed in a mental institution. Albus guessed that the ministry would send someone there to settle him down with a memory charm.

Today was the first dueling competition at Hogwarts since before any living person could remember. His father had been planning it since his first week at the school, and it had taken on a life of its own, students were choosing their favorite from the selected students from their houses. Albus had decided to support Dominique mainly because she was the younger of the two Weasleys participating. Victiore was one of the clear favorites, and Albus loved an underdog story. After breakfast, he and Rose met up with Scorpius to go watch the competition. "My father told me to expect a surprise to open the competition." Scorpius said as they made their way down the steps and toward the quidditch pitch. "I expect it'll be some sort of exhibition, maybe the professors?" He said with a questioning tone. Albus and Rose shrugged.

"Maybe your fathers are going to duel again, mum told me they were the reason the dueling club had been discontinued after one meeting during their second year." Rose said, Albus and Scorpius both thought that this would be great fun, and decided that should it happen, they each had five galleons on their respective dads. Rose, for her part, didn't pick sides. "From what I've heard, they get along fine now. So, if they do it shouldn't get out of hand."

"Isn't it strange?" Albus asked, "them getting along so well now, with all the stories we heard from our parents."

"I don't think so, I mean look at us," Scorpius responded. "A Malfoy, slumming it with a Potter, and a _Weasley_." He said the last word in a mocking tone, which told Albus that he had probably heard at least one of his family members say it that way once or twice. Albus' money was on his grandfather, Lucius. According to his mum and dad, Lucius still hated the Weasleys and clung to his pure-blood views.

The dueling started with an exhibition, but it wasn't their fathers. Professor Malfoy was a participant in the duel, losing in the end to Neville. Albus claimed that it was close enough because Neville was practically family, so he should win the bet. He didn't expect he would ever see the galleons, though. Dominique's performance was exemplary, as expected. She advanced twice, being the only fifth year to do so. Albus noticed that she was using her Veela powers in her second duel, where she eliminated a seventh year Hufflepuff named Tucker, one of the favorites. She was, however, eliminated by her older sister in the following round. The tournament ended with Victiore losing in the final duel to a Ravenclaw named Leyton. One of the American twins, named Ryan, won the third place match in one of the biggest upsets of the competition. No one had expected a sixth year to make it past the second round, much less to the semi-finals. After the competition was completed, Gryffindor had come out with the most points, having the second and third place finishers, but with Ravenclaw winning the crown.

The feast that night was similar to the ones after a particularly exciting quidditch match. Albus was particularly enjoying himself playing a game of chess with Rose, who was much better at the game than he was, when the loudest wailing sound he had ever heard blasted through the hall. Albus could have compared it to a muggle car alarm, except it was ear-splittingly loud. Albus could tell by the reactions of the teachers, that nothing good could come of this. The staff practically sprinted out of the great hall, leaving the prefects and head boy and girl in charge.

After a couple of minutes, one of the ministry workers that had come to witness the dueling competition reentered the hall and called for the members of the dueling club to come assist the teachers. Albus noticed Scorpius casually walking out with them, so he grabbed Rose by the arm and pulled her out with the crowd. "What are you doing? Albus!" She said, just loud enough for him to hear.

"We have to see what's going on." Albus said, pulling her along behind him.

"If we lose house points for this, you're dead Al." She replied, but she followed him willingly and he dropped her arm. They stayed as far away from their two cousins as possible, and found themselves a spot where they could see across the grounds, where a dark cloud was approaching the castle. Albus heard his father's voice tell the members of the dueling club to each cast their patronus at the cloud. And when they did, he saw the cloud retreat, leaving behind the army it had been concealing. Based solely on what he saw, the army of men inside the cloud all looked exactly alike. It was disconcerting.

From his place at the top of the stairs, Albus could see that the staff was hopelessly outnumbered. The spells started flying, and Albus lost himself in the commotion. He had never seen a battle like this before. The professors and ministry workers that had come to the school today were all moving in every direction, surrounding the group. By the time the attacking force had sent a single spell, half of them had been incapacitated, and from what Albus could tell, the remaining ones didn't land a single spell. The streaks of green light simply flew outward from the men, but missed the dodging teachers and hit the ground or the stairs. The students were all at the top, so they were all safe. Albus saw his father moving toward the attackers, dodging and weaving in spells. By the time the attacking force had managed to cast three barrages of curses, they numbered less than ten. The last ones were eliminated with ease, and as far as Albus could see, none of the students or the staff had been injured. The fighting was over, when the two American twins came sprinting out of one of the other entrances to the castle and ran directly to his father. After a very animated conversation that Albus couldn't hear, they ran back, accompanied by his father, and the headmistress.


	7. Investigations

**A/N:** I've thoroughly enjoyed writing this story from Albus' point of view so far. I have had a few issues trying to figure out things to write about for the first part of the story. Bear with me, I swear it gets more interesting.

The days following the attack on Hogwarts passed in a bit of a blur for Albus, his parents, along with the rest of the Weasley adults, had pulled their children out for Ryan, Ian, and Susan's dad's funeral. Albus, in truth, hadn't made friends with the Americans in school. He tended to keep to his family and Scorpius. The entire situation made Albus uncomfortable.

He had been vaguely aware of his father's involvement with the American families, but he hadn't realized that his family was directly responsible for keeping them hidden from some psychopathic dark wizard. He did not dwell on any of this, however; he had more important things to do. He and Rose were planning to use the weekend in Godric's Hollow to go talk to the parents of the missing muggle boy, Stephen.

"Now, once we get there we need to convince them that we were his friends." Rose said, planning as they approached the house.

"Isn't that a terrible thing to do, especially to worried parents?" Albus asked, this whole plan had seemed wrong to him since the beginning.

"But we're trying to help them, if we must be a little dishonest to get the information we need, then so be it." Rose continued, she was obviously determined.

They walked to the door of the house, which reminded Albus vaguely of the house his father had taken him to when he was seven and considering running away from home because his mother made him clean his room while everyone else was out playing quidditch. Albus remembered seeing the cupboard his father had been forced to use as a bedroom when he was a child. He also saw, even if it was through a window, his extended family. Dudley did seem to be better than his parents by this time, but from his father's memories he knew that, in his youth, Dudley had been the worst of them.

While he had been pondering this, Rose had, apparently, rang the doorbell and a man had already answered it. "Oh, hello," the man, who Albus could see was half expecting, or hoping, someone else would be standing on his doorstep, said. He composed himself quickly, for what it was worth, offering the children at his door a smile, "can I help you?"

"Well, sir, we're friends of Stephen's from school." Rose began, smiling sadly, she was good at this. "We both moved schools this year, but we came home for a family emergency. We heard that Stephen was missing, and we couldn't believe it. We just came to talk to you, and ask if we can do anything to help."

The man, whose sad face had returned at his son's name, nodded solemnly. "Come in, then." He moved from the door and ushered them into a small kitchen with a table, set for three. He sat down, and called for his wife, who joined them at the table. Albus and Rose left the place that had obviously been set for Stephen, and instead bot sat facing it from the opposite side of the table.

Rose wasted no time, "What happened?" She asked, keeping her face a mask of pity.

"Well, we're not so sure." Stephen's father said, "he had gone to the park to play football with his friends, but he never came home. We called all of their parents, but none of them had even seen Stephen at the park." At this, his composure broke, and he spoke between sobs, "we keep expecting someone to call, asking for ransom, but they never do."

"We're sorry," Rose said, "We didn't mean to bring you any more pain than you were already in."

The parents took a few minutes to regain their composure, and when they did, Albus and Rose said their goodbyes. They were nearly home, when Rose finally broke the silence.

"That was a bad idea." She said, "We shouldn't have interfered, and we didn't even really learn anything."

"Didn't we?" Albus replied, he had watched enough crime television shows to know what the absence of any demands meant in a kidnapping. "If there aren't any demands, Stephen won't be coming back. He has either run away from home, or he's dead." He hadn't meant for his statement to be quite so dramatic. It had, however, snapped Rose out of her trancelike state.

"I hope you're wrong, Al. Because if you're right, my guess is someone in the ministry, likely one of our own family members is covering the whole thing up." Rose said, a thoughtful expression on her face.

"What do you mean?" Albus asked, confused.

"Well, a child disappears just up the street from your house on the same night this new dark wizard attacks your parents," Rose started, "that's some coincidence." Albus' father had told him many times that he didn't believe in coincidence, but Albus still certainly did. Sometimes things just happened. He pushed the thought down, as Rose was looking at him quizzically.

"I'm sure none of our family had anything to do with Stephen's disappearance." Albus said, confident that his family wouldn't do something so dastardly. "I'm sure of it."

"I hope you're right," Rose said still frowning. "I really do."

 **A/N:** I really expected this chapter to be longer, but I had a slightly severe case of writer's block. I fought through it, but I didn't want to add too much pointless fluff to the chapter. I hope you all can forgive the brief nature of this installment.


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